Posted by michel.capel (michel.capel@…>)
Dave,
We also sometimes long back to our old currencies; converting from
the Dutch Guilder to the Euro (value 2.20 Guilders) was a strange
affair: our salaries were more than cut in half while our rents,
energy, coffy, bread and beer were not. Although it’s still strongly
denied by our national bank, many people had a financially very hard
time to get around the first two years after converting to the euro.
So we felt and often still feel the same pain you Americans feel
when visiting Europe. Only we feel it every day.
When I last was in the USA in Jan. 2006 to prepare my Freedom 44 for
shipment to the NL’s I found that most things were relatively cheap,
like hotels, food, tools and clothing. I was amazed however about
the high costs of boatyard and crane services. But then, they needed
twice as many guys to lift the masts and boat as we would need
overhere. I never knew a boatyard worker is prohibited to use a
hammer and nails; they had to call in a carpenter to drive a few
nails in some pieces of scrapwood! And I thought the labour unions
were strong overhere in Europe, with many socialist governments.
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Dave_Benjamin”
<dave_benjamin@…> wrote:
Been a while since I’ve been to Europe but Asia isn’t too
standardized. Oz and NZ are different as well.
Look we really need you blokes to devalue that Euro a bit. Or
perhaps
you could kindly go back to separate currencies. Don’t you miss
the
Franc, Mark, Gilder, and whatnot? It’s too bloody expensive to
visit
Europe or purchase products from there. Something needs to be
done.
$8 USD for a coffee in Amsterdam is just too much. And then
there’s
the matter of petrol/benzin…
JUST KIDDING of course. Well maybe not 100% kidding. I would like
to
venture back over for a visit but it’s really a grind now with the
exchange rate. Guess I could stay in hostels and buy a loaf of
bread,
stick of salami, and a bottle of cheap Spatlese. That was a lot of
fun 20+ years ago.
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “michel.capel”
<michel.capel@> wrote:
Hahaha, I didn’t know that there were so many 230V plugs; I
thought
we pretty much all had adopted the sleek 2 pole Japanese plug. I
suppose the differences you find are the remnants of the British
Empire with it’s outrageous plugs. All their former colonies
still
uses those, as in the UK combined with 230 V. On Europe’s
mainland
we have long since standardised to one type of unearthed and one
earthed plug. both types have two pins. The earthing is on the
sides.
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Dave_Benjamin”
<dave_benjamin@> wrote:
Michel,
Nahh we’re thinking everyone else should adopt out standard.
That
and
we need you to switch over to inches and feet.
JUST KIDDING!!!
I wish all the 230 volt countries would standardize on a plug.
I’ve
got several adapters for different countries. While I was in
Malaysia
I took advantage of good pricing on the one for OZ so I’m set
for
going there next.
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “michel.capel”
<michel.capel@> wrote:
Dave,
Happy new year to you and your family too. And perhaps it’s
time
the
US joins the European Union? Then they can finally get 230
volts
from the wall sockets, like almost everyone else on the
planet!
Greetings,
Michel
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Dave_Benjamin”
<dave_benjamin@> wrote:
Michel,
Happy New Year!
Hey at least you’ve got countries wanting to join the
commonwealth.
Most everyone in the global community has shunned the US
lately
for
the ill advised actions in the mideast.
Our school system isn’t as good as yours and we’re not
doing
very
well with those history classes.
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “michel.capel”
<michel.capel@> wrote:
Dave,
You’re right in saying that Europe is pretty compact
compared
to
the
States. But Europe’s getting bigger every year now with
new
states
wanting to join the ritual dance around the pot of gold
in
Brussels
(EU headquarters).
Happy year’s ending to ye all,
Michel
— In
freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Dave_Benjamin”
<dave_benjamin@> wrote:
Pretty short distance compared to how far US west
coast
is
from
the
US east coast. As expected it sounds like you can help
the
guy
out
which is awesome.
You have to admit Europe is pretty compact compared to
the
US.
Germany is the size of of the state of Oregon where I
currently
live.
— In
freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “michel.capel”
<michel.capel@> wrote:
Hi Svante,
I’m the guy that lives around your corner in the
Netherlands,
only
about a 1000 nautical miles away (Americans often
think
all
of
Europe fits in the palm of your hand ;^) ).
At this time, there is one Freedom 40 for sale in
Europe;
she’s
named Simena and the previous owner was Dutch. Take
a
look
at
www.ancasta.co.uk. That’s the broker selling her.
She
is
a
long
keel
version without centreboard with 1.60m draft.
Best regards,
Michel Capel
— In
freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “jabina3free”
<jabina3free@> wrote:
Hallo my name is Svante “53 year” and I am a new
member
from
Sweden.
I have earlier owned Maxi 77, Laurin 28, Laurin 32
ketch,
and
Bruce
Roberts 44 off shore sloop. Starting a company
with
my
son
takes
all
the time and we sold our Bruce Roberts. Sailing
experiance
with
our
boats are North see and the countries around
there, 1
year
in
Carribean, and 1 summer up to the Spitsbergen in
North.
However I
hope
to become som time back in the future and now
again
intrested
in
sailing boats. Me and my wife have decide to go a
bit
smaller
than
the
44 BR. Long keel and lifting keel is not easy to
find
in
sweden
so
therefore a thought how about the Classic F40. I
have
never
bin
aboard
so I have lots of questions and hope to find it
here.
First
Is
there
any weeknes I should look after,for example in
hull
and
rig?
If
you
must have a new rig today is it possible to get
one?
I
start
with
those questions and also wich all a merry
Christmas.
Sorry for my English but I do my best.
Svante.